(Bloomberg) -- For the first time in eight years, Puma SE shares are trailing crosstown rival Adidas AG. Wednesday’s first-quarter results started to redress the balance.

The estimate-beating earnings sent Puma shares soaring as much as 13%, erasing their drop for the year. That’s still far behind the 21% gain of Adidas, which is experiencing an upturn in fortunes under the leadership of former Puma boss Bjorn Gulden. Prior to this year, Puma had outperformed its rival each year since 2016.

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According to Deutsche Bank’s Adam Cochrane and Shwetha Ramachandran, Puma’s results could get the shares back on track, after the release pointed to an acceleration similar to Adidas’s in the second half.

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“With advertising spend being maintained, a new brand campaign launched, products being released and sports events about to start, the sequential improvement in sales growth looks justified,” the analysts wrote.

Still, B Metzler Seel Sohn & Co AG analyst Felix Dennl says Adidas remains the winner in terms of brand momentum, evident in Google searches and backed up by its product pipeline for the year. He has a buy rating on both companies, which were founded by brothers Adolf and Rudolf Dassler and still share the same hometown of Herzogenaurach.

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Adidas “has greater potential to deliver guidance raises this year,” Dennl wrote in emailed comments.

--With assistance from Nicole Sy and Tim Loh.

(Updates with further share price gains.)

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